Titus's Birth Story

Our precious little bundle is finally here! He came a bit early, but I am not complaining about that. I had been having contractions 15-20 minutes apart for about a week and I was in so much pain. I woke up on July 1, 2015 around 6:30 a.m. with extremely painful contractions. I starting timing them and they were only 10-15 seconds long but were happening every 2-3 minutes. Cody was at the gym so I texted him and let him know and he came home. I called labor and delivery and told them about my contractions and they said they didn't want me to come in until the contractions were lasting 60 seconds or more and were painful enough that I couldn't talk through them. So I continued to wait. It came time for Cody to go to work and since my contractions were consistent but not lasting any longer, he went to work and told me to call him when things changed. I got Boston up and ready and we went for a walk around the neighborhood. I was having contractions every 1.5-2 minutes apart at this point but they were still only about 30 seconds long but it was difficult to walk through them. I called Cody on my walk and he said he would head home. When I got home, I used the bathroom and lost my mucus plug. I called labor and delivery again and another nurse told me she was sure it was false labor and to lay down and see if the contractions go away. At this point it was about 11:00 a.m. and the contractions were getting more painful. I called labor and delivery again around noon and asked again if I should come in. The nurse again told me no. Cody told me to call my midwife and ask her since the contractions were getting so close together. I talked to the midwife's assistant and she told me to definitely go to labor and delivery and at least have them check me. So it was about 12:30 when we headed to the hospital.

When we got there, the nurses knew who I was. I told them I was instructed to come in and be checked. Sarah, the nurse manager, was a little bugged I was there I think but she took me to a triage room and I put on my gown. She started checking me and in a very surprised voice told me, "You are a very stretchy 5. Let's get you checked in!" My group B strep test came back positive and they were worried I wouldn't be able to make it another 4 hours to get my second dose of antibiotics. I just kept thinking, "If you told me to come in hours ago when I called you would have plenty of time!" An hour and a half to two hours later I got the epidural. I feel so bad because I had been telling people that epidurals don't hurt because I honestly did not remember it hurting with Boston. Let me be completely honest, it hurts! The anesthesiologist was so great, but that needle is painful and then they inject a ton of fluid into you and that burns like none other. I was grateful to have it though. I definitely don't feel it worked as well as it should have though.

My midwife, Eve, was away on a business trip and her flight was coming in at 7:30 that night so the other midwife in the hospital was with me for most part. At 4:30 I was checked again and I was dilated to 9 cm. The nurse told me it was up to me, but I could continue to wait and see if I made it until Eve's flight got in so she could deliver the baby or they could break my water and get the process moving along. I decided just to have my water broken. After that I went backwards and was dilated to 8 cm. I progressed extremely slowly from there on. I felt the need to start pushing around 7:40 and Eve showed up shortly after. She must have magic powers or something because my kids wait for her to deliver them! Titus was facing sideways in my pelvis and that's why I had progressed so slowly at the end. They gave my this big yellow, peanut shaped ball that I put between my legs and laid sideways. They had me go through 3 contractions like that and then she checked again and he was 3/4 of the way turned. So she had me do one more contraction on that side and he was turned enough that she could then move my cervix to get him the rest of the way. It was one of the most painful things in the world! I kept pushing my epidural button and it would beep at me and tell me I was maxed out on meds pretty much. I felt like I needed to push and I couldn't hold it back. I remember with Boston, I thought that it was silly women yelled during labor because I pushed so hard I couldn't make a sound. Well, I pushed as hard as I could for three contractions and I yelled through every one of them. It was the most painful thing and I even had the epidural. I remember telling my mom to push the baby back in so I didn't have to do this anymore. But after pushing through those three contractions, my sweet little boy was born at 8:52 p.m. They took him and I was so worried he wasn't okay. I asked Eve probably six times if he was okay. Of course, he was. They were just getting him taken care of. I tore a tiny bit, but only needed two stitches.

Titus Wyatt Caldwell weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz, which is one ounce bigger than Boston was. Cody says they had their equipment on the scale when he was weighed though so we are positive that weight was wrong. He was 20 inches long. We had him weighed a few days later at the doctor's office and his weight then was 6 lbs 12 oz, and with his eating habits we know he didn't really lose that much weight. He is the most perfect baby and is so calm. They laid him on my chest for skin to skin and immediately he wanted to eat and latched on perfect the first time and ate great. He has continued to be a great eater and sleeper since! He looks so different from his brother, but just like his daddy. He is slightly jaundiced, but they aren't worried about that. This little baby is such a blessing in our lives and has made us feel a new love for each other and our children all over again.